KOREAN CULTURE: The First Full Moon Festival (3)

BUREOM: Korean Daeboreum
celebration was traditionally started out by eating Ogokbap and 9 kinds of Namul dishes
on the night before and continued into the next day, Daeboreum Day or the First Full Moon Day, by cracking on nutshells
with their own teeth, which was actually the first thing they did when they
woke up the next morning. The nuts with
hard shells (such as chestnuts, walnuts, pine nuts, and ginkgo nuts) cracked
and eaten early on Daeboreum Morning
are called Bureom (부럼). Koreans crack
the same number of nuts as their age, but the elderly with weak gums and teeth
crack just one or two. In ancient Korea, strong teeth were believed to be a
barometer of health; hence, cracking Bureom
was kind of a dental exam.

Must items in Bureom baskets
are chestnuts and Korean radishes.
Chestnuts are in Su (수, “water”) of the Taoist Five
Phases called Ohaeng (오행) or Wu Xing – Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal
and Water. Korean radishes or Mu (무), on the other hand, are a
star root vegetable. Both chestnuts and
radishes symbolize Earth and the kidneys in the human body as well. This is quite a metaphorical concept: As strong roots are essential for healthy
plants, strong kidneys are for a healthy body.
The ancient Koreans prayed for the health and peace in their family by
shouting out loud, “For the peace and quiet all year round!” as they cracked
the nuts. They tried to crack a nut at
one try as it meant better luck. The
very first nut cracked with teeth was tossed into the courtyard and the rest
were eaten.

Bureom is derived from a
native Korean verb bureuda (부르다, “to call”) since they
tossed it to the ground to “call the Spirit of Earth,” wishing it would bring
them longevity, health, and peace. As it
happens, Bureom is similar to Buseureom (부스럼, “a kind of skin trouble”) in spelling and pronunciation. And, all too often, it’s been misinterpreted
as derived from Buseureom and it’s been
undoubtedly considered “a fact” that the hard shell nuts are cracked by teeth
and tossed to the ground to prevent skin troubles. It’s been falsely believed
too that cracking the nuts on Daeboreum
Morning would keep your teeth strong and healthy all year round when it’s
actually the other way round as mentioned above. This tradition of munching on nuts has
complemented the ancient Koreans’ diet deficient in vitamins and other
nutrients during the long, long winter months.GWIBALGGISUL: It was customary that, before breakfast, the
ancient Koreans had Bureom with an
accompanying glass of Cheongju (청주, “refined rice wine”), which is called Gwibalggisul (귀밝기술)or Imyeongju
(이명주, 耳明酒).
Koreans drink cheongju,
refined rice wine, cold in spring and summer and warm in fall and winter; but
just like Seolsul or Seju on New Year’s Day, Gwibalggisul is served cold on Daeboreum.

In the theory of Eum-Yang (음-양, “Ying-Yang”) of Gi (기, “Qi”) philosophy, eyes are considered as Heaven thus
Yang while ears as Earth thus Ying. The
ancient Koreans were careful of what they saw through their eyes and what they heard
through their ears but put much more weight on the latter since they thought a
man of virtue and wit should listen closely and carefully to others and try to understand
others deeply. In the word gwibalggi (native Korean)or imyeong
(Sino-Korean),gwi or i means “ear” and balggi or myeong “clear; make something clear” and put together, the word translates
to “make someone sharp-eared.” In short,
the ancient Koreans had a glass of rice wine on Daeboreum Morning to open their ears to listen well1 – the art of listening if you will.

1.
It was also believed drinking rice wine would help prevent ear
infections and improve hearing, and there would be only good news all year
round.

●Deowi Palgi (Selling the
Summer Heat)

When I was little, I was not that big a fan of Ogokbap and Namul, which
I lurve sooooo much now, so I couldn’t care less about Daeboreum except for the cracking-the-nut part and this! – Deowi Palgi or Selling the Summer Heat.
This is kind of a customary joke that people get up before the dawn of Daeboreum Day and catch the first person
they see off-guard. First, you have to
call his name to get his attention and shout, “Buy and take all my summer heat!” But here’s the catch: You can sell him your
summer heat if and only if he responds back to your calling:

YOU

“John!”

JOHN

“Yeah?”

YOU

“Buy and take all my summer heat!”

JOHN

“Shoot!”

Beware your “preemptive” move could turn out to be suicidal if John is
smart enough to deliver a counterblow without responding back to your calling:

YOU

“John!”

JOHN

“Buy and take all my summer heat!”

YOU

“Shoot!”

Here’s the authentic way of selling the summer heat: (i) The ancient Koreans woke up before the
dawn of Daeboreum Day, took a branch
of a peach tree growing outward to the east, make a ring necklace with it, and place
the branch necklace around the neck of their dog, saying, “Dog, may you not suffer
heatstroke this summer”; (ii) they wove a straw rope, twisted in a leftward
spiral and place it around the neck of their cow, saying, “Cow, may you not suffer
heatstroke this summer”; and then (iii) they went out to sell their summer
heat. According to Seasonal Customs of the Eastern Kingdom (1849) (Dongguk Sesigi), in which the Eastern
Kingdom refers to Joseon Dynasty then and Korea now, you will not suffer heatstroke
or heat exhaustion during summer if you successfully sell someone your summer
heat.

Members of Super
Junior sell each other

their summer heat on Daeboreum

Some of Korean newspaper articles recently reported that there’s a new
trend on the rise among Korean Netizens in selling the summer heat – they sell
their summer heat by exchanging messages through KaKao Talk or Social Networking
Services (SNS) like Twitter or Facebook.

"My summer heat was automatically sent to you."

Deowi Palgi image on line-1

“Buy and take all my summer heat!”Deowi Palgi image on line-2

●Dongje (Village Rituals)

Although it varies from Province to Province, Korean farming villages hold collaborative rituals called Dongje (동제, 洞祭) on Daeboreum Eve, around midnight. Each and every family in a village chips in for the ritual and chooses a lofty, pure man as the officiant of the ritual to pray for the abundance and peace of their own village.

Scenes from Dongje, "Village Rituals"

●Juldarigi (Tug of War)

Juldarigi (줄다리기) is one of the Daeboreum pastimes played to wish for the New Year’s abundance and fertility. This game is an agriculture-related tradition passed down from generation to generation mainly in farming villages. The ancient Korean farmers practiced divination from the result of this game. They made Amjul (암줄, “a female rope”) and Sutjul (숫줄, “a male rope”) with straw; it was believed that they would have a great harvest only when a Amjul team took the victory against Sutjul team – just like the goddess of the moon, Amjul, “a female rope,” symbolizes fertility and abundance.